Lexi's pokémon journey
by Rapidash77
Summary: Lexi is going on her Pokémon journey with her new Ponyta. While on her way she will find friends, learn new things and find out what she wants to do in the future.(Only has pokémon from Gen 1-4)
1. The start of the journey

**Disclaimer: I do not own pokémon but I do own the Region.**

 **AN: The pokémon in this story can have 5 moves instead of 4.**

 **And please give me feedback! Did you like something? Did something bother you? Was some information wrong? Tell me!**

 **Help me improve :)**

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Lexi Blue jumped out of bed as soon as she heard her Noctowl alarm clock. Yesterday had been her birthday, and that meant that she was finally old enough to start her journey. She quickly put her light brown hair in a ponytail and went downstairs to get some breakfast.

The smell of toasted bread and fresh honey filled her nose as she came down the stairs. Her mother was busy pouring warm Moomoo Milk in cups on the table. ''Good morning honey, I put your backpack next to the door so you wouldn't forget it. But could you feed the Miltank's before you go?''

''Sure, and thanks mom.'' Lexi replied, taking a glass of milk. Lexi's mother ran her hand through Lexi's uncombed brown hair and walked back to the counter picking up a pair of glasses. ''Your father forgot his spare glasses again.'' she said, shaking her head but smiling. Lexi walked up to her mother and gave her a hug. ''Don't forget to call every now and then. We'll miss you.''

Lexi gave her mom another hug and a kiss on the cheek before picking up her blue backpack. It was really warm outside and all of the Miltank's were lying on the grass. Lexi walked passed Cilly, her favorite Miltank, and stroked her back before walking to the shed.

All those years she had lived on their little farm, helping with the Miltank's, riding the Ponyta's. She even got to help with their Tauros a few weeks ago. But now she was going to start her own journey, just like her parents did before her. They had given her a lot of advice and taught her many things that were very useful to know as a trainer, or at least that's what they told her.

As Lexi picked up an old red bucket to put the feed into, she noticed a thin rope. It went from the buckets, through the hay, passed the Miltank-food and ended at one of the stalls. She could hear the pounding of hooves on the ground and saw a light flicker on the walls. Suddenly she could feel a hand on her shoulder. ''Aren't you going to follow it?'' Her mother asked, pointing to the rope. When Lexi got to the stall she saw a big Ponyta running circles inside the stable.

''It's one of my best foals. I think it would be a great starter Pokémon. Lots of potential but no hotheadedness. So, if you want, you can have her.''

Lexi looked at the young Ponyta. It was active, but not hyper, and looked very curious. Her body looked slender but strong and she had beautiful brown eyes. Lexi walked up to the Ponyta and began stroking her head. The Ponyta gave a small nicker.

''She is beautiful, I'm going to name her Serafine.''

Her mother gave her Serafine's pokéball so she could put it on her belt and after one more hug, Lexi and Serafine walked to the gate. There Lexi looked back at her house one more time before turning around and heading towards the lab of Professor Redwood.

While following the sand path to the pokémon laboratory Lexi started to get a little nervous. She wouldn't see her town for a long time. The houses of her neighbors she had walked past every time she went into town, the pokémon she played with and of course her own home with her mom and dad.

As Lexi passed a garden filled with big red flowers, she looked up and saw Mrs. Bude waving at her while holding a very sad looking flower. Mrs. Bude walked to the gate of the white fence surrounding her garden and hold out her hand. ''I heard you're going on your journey today!'' she said happily while Lexi shook her hand. ''Be sure to catch a Magikarp! Then you could come back and join the annual Shinka suru festival.''

The Shinka suru festival was a big thing in Filium town. Every year trainers from all over the Uniqi Region came to let their Magikarp evolve into a Gyarados. They would fight the whole day and night till every last one of them had evolved. The town got decorated with blue ribbons and the lights would, for that one day, all change to blue instead of yellow.

Suddenly Mrs. Bude stopped and excitedly pointed to Serafine. ''Is that your companion? What a cute little Ponyta! I think you're going to have a good time together. Well, I need to go back to my garden, good luck you two!'' and with a last wave of the flower, Mrs. Bude went to the back of her house.

Lexi had reached the middle of her town. Not far away, next to a silver Gyarados statue, stood the pokémon laboratory. The building was yellow with a grey roof and didn't look much bigger than some of the houses next to it. But Lexi knew that there was a big area behind the laboratory, where they kept all the pokémon.

Lexi saw a red haired boy leaving the lab with a pokéball in his hand and a big smile on his face. It was Nat Peton, he had been a good friend of Lexi when they were kids. He would help out on the farm and they would have sleepovers. When he became friends with a girl who had just moved in, Lexi got the feeling she couldn't count on him anymore and they stopped talking. Lexi looked at the pokéball Nat had in his hand. That had to be a Cyndaquil, Nat always said that he wanted a Cyndaquil with him on his journey.

Lexi looked back to the pokémon laboratory, in the door opening stood a small man with brown hair and glasses, in a white lab coat. ''Lexi! You're exactly on time. Come, let's go inside.''

''I know you have worked with pokémon before but that is not the same as having your own pokémon. A pokémon is a big responsibility, never forget that, it needs food and training but also time to recover and mental stimulation.'' said Professor Redwood pointing to her Ponyta, while leading her passed shelves with an uncountable amount of books on them.

Serafine's hooves gave a loud clatter against the smooth floor, making it more difficult to hear what Prof. Redwood was saying. Lexi wondered if she should retrieve her Ponyta, but she liked having the pokémon beside her.

Eventually they entered a room with grey walls. There was a big computer In the corner and in the middle of the room were two white tables. One of them had 2 pokéballs on it. Lexi followed Professor Redwood to the other table which had several small devices neatly stacked on top of each other.

''This is something that all travelers get nowadays'' Prof. Redwood said, handing her a small dark blue colored device. ''It's called a pokédex, we got the newest models delivered yesterday. I'm pretty sure you already know all the pokémon here, but as you travel you will encounter many kinds of pokémon you have never seen before. The pokédex is a sort of encyclopedia with every pokémon in it. It can tell you information about the Pokémon you point it to, and it automatically adds new data. But it can do much more, like, it's your trainer ID and it can also be used as a phone.'' Lexi looked at it and pointed it to her Ponyta.

''Ponyta, the Fire Horse Pokémon, about an hour after birth, its fiery mane and tail grow out, giving it an impressive appearance. Ponyta is world-class jumper and its hooves are 10 times harder than diamonds. This Pokémon known moves are: Growl, Tackle and Tail Whip. Female.'' said a robotic man-like voice. Prof. Redwood smiled and handed her a couple more things.

''Here are some pokéballs. Oh, and here is a badge case you can put your badges in.'' Lexi put everything in her backpack. ''Well, good luck.''

As Lexi walked out of the lab with her Ponyta beside her, she smiled at her pokémon and pointed to forest in front of them. ''That's Dipter Forest.'' Lexi said out loud. ''We have to go through it to get to Diptera Town, and then through another forest to Crocuta Town''.

Lexi and Serafine walked for thirty minutes before taking a rest near a lake. While the Ponyta started grazing Lexi closed her eyes for a minute and enjoyed the peace. She felt excited and could not wait to travel and see new things. This lake was nothing new, she had played here a thousand times. Mostly with her parents but sometimes with friends. There was also a wild Wurmple she used to watch as it came to drink from the lake. Till she got ill one day and had to stay in bed for a week. When she got better her dad had told her the Wurmple had already evolved twice, and flew away as a Dustox.

Lexi opened her eyes and just when she was about to call Serafine so they could continue, Lexi heard a noise next to her. A Spinarak jumped out of the bushes and looked a little surprised seeing them, but it recovered quickly and started to attack. ''Serafine use Tackle!'' Lexi shouted and Serafine ran towards the Spinarak. The Spinarak shot out a weird silk substance from its jaws but Serafine dodged it and hit Spinarak right on its head with her fiery mane, causing it to fall to the ground and faint. ''Good job Serafine, our first fight! And we won!'' Lexi hugged the fire pony and the two continued with new energy.

They battled a couple more Spinarak in the forest and reached Diptera Town as the started to go down. Lexi entered a red building and walked up to a woman with pink hair. ''Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center. I'm Nurse Joy, how can I help you?''

''Hello, I am Lexi. I wondered if you could check my Pokémon. We had a some fights in the forest a while ago and I want to be sure she's alright.'' Lexi said while handing her the pokéball. ''Sure, just follow me.'' Nurse Joy put the pokéball in small machine and it started beeping after a minute or two. ''Your Ponyta is quite healthy, just hungry and tired. I will give you some Oran berries,'' Nurse Joy handed Lexi some blue fruit,'' and I'm afraid we're full at the moment but there is a hotel across the street were you can rest. '' Lexi thanked her and went to the hotel.

Inside she saw all kinds of pokémon she had never seen up close before so she took out her pokédex. There was a little girl with a 'Pachirisu', a man with a very big 'Starmie', a boy with a 'Hoothoot' on his shoulder, a woman that was feeding a 'Nidorina', and many more. The woman with the Nidorina saw Lexi staring and walked up to her. The woman was very tall with long blonde hair and a dark red outfit. Her hands were covered with bright pink gloves. The Nidorina that followed her was decorated with two red straps around its hind legs.

''Good afternoon girl, you seem a little lost.''

''I'm not really lost, it's just my first day of traveling.'' Lexi answered nervously, she could feel her face getting red.

The woman's eyes started sparkling behind her red glasses and she smiled at Lexi while walking away, gesturing her to follow. '' Oh, it seems only yesterday I started with my first journey. If you want I can show you around a little, I'm Olive by the way.'' Olive said, not waiting for an answer. She continued walking a little longer and stopped at the Pokémon Center .

''This is the Pokémon Center, you can heal your pokémon in there for free. They also have rooms where trainers can sleep.'' After saying that Olive started walking again till Lexi saw a blue building. ''This is the Poké Mart. It's a store that sells supplies necessary for Pokémon training.'' Olive entered the building and continued explaining.

''You can buy all kinds of pokéballs to capture pokémon, potions to heal your pokémon, but also food, vitamins, and all sorts of other things you might need. Not all Poké Marts sell the same items, some even sell pokémon dolls.'' Olive walked out of the Poké Mart and Lexi quickly followed. She was happy that someone was showing her around, but it was a bit much and Olive wasn't slowing down.

''So you just started your journey, what is your plan? Are you going to be a Coordinator, or a Breeder, or are you going to enter the pokémon league? It's so exciting, you're going to learn everything about how to work with pokémon and how to care for them! My first pokémon was a Squirtle, such a smart little thing, I learned a lot from him. What do you have?'' Olive stopped walking and turned to Lexi.

''Well, I have a Ponyta'' Lexi said, grabbing her pokéball. But Olive had already started walking again. ''And I don't really have a plan yet. At the moment I'm just going to collect badges and get stronger. But I don't know if I really want to go as far as entering the League.''

The wind was getting colder and Lexi was tempted to let Serafine out of her pokéball, just as she was about to throw it Olive started talking again. ''You know,'' she said while still looking straight forward. ''I already had a plan when I was your age. It is hard to just make something up on the spot, you need to know what you are going to work towards on your journey. Otherwise, well, it's kind of useless isn't it.''

Lexi suddenly felt really embarrassed. Did she really need a plan….was this useless? Her parents had traveled the same way, but, had they done it the wrong way? Lexi just wanted to go back to her room and away from Olive. But she wasn't comfortable telling Olive this. No, she just had to wait.

After showing her a couple more things Olive went back to the hotel and said goodbye. Lexi went up to her room and let Serafine out of her pokéball. Lexi started to feel homesick. How could she ever travel around the world if she already had trouble now. This was her first town, a town she already somewhat knew, and she was just a couple of miles from home. Serafine noticed her sadness and put her head on Lexi's shoulder. This made her smile. ''Thanks Serafine, come, let´s go to bed. We have a busy day ahead of us.''


	2. Two new friends

**AN: For some reason it won't let me make room between two lines, so I will now use (_) to make room.**

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When Lexi woke up the next morning she still felt a little low. Even the call she had with her mom this morning had not helped. She quietly ate her breakfast and walked to the shops to get some supplies. Going home wasn't an option, she didn't want to be weak, and it would probably get better, wouldn't it?

Suddenly Serafine, who had been walked next to her, started running towards the woods. She was bucking and jumping, running back and forth, and let out a whinny. It seemed like she wanted to play. Lexi wasn't really in the mood, but Serafine did not care. She took Lexi's sleeve between her teeth and started pulling. Serafine was going so fast that Lexi had to run in order to save her sleeve from tearing. The running actually felt kind of nice, it cleared her mind. Serafine let go and continued running, but now Lexi ran with her.

When Lexi sat down a couple minutes later she felt a lot better. She was tired but felt calm and happy. She was ready to go out and explore, together with Serafine. The running had made her feel closer to her.

Lexi couldn't wait to go to the forest and start catching pokémon. Serafine seemed to have endless energy, the fire pony continuously ran around Lexi as they walked through the forest. The forest was beautiful, the grass was moving in de wind, the leaves of the trees were changing their normally green colors to yellow and light brown, the ground was covered with little pokémon footprints and the sun was shining through it all making everything almost light up.

''Serafine! Where are you?'' Lexi hadn't seen her in a while. She heard a loud neigh and followed the sound to a small open space. There stood Serafine, in fighting position, staring at a very bold Geodude. Serafine had found them a pokémon to battle!

The Geodude smashed its wrists together, trying to look intimidating. It planted its hands firmly on the ground and pushed itself towards Serafine. But the Ponyta was way too quick on her feet and dodged his tackle easily. ''Tackle it Serafine, as much as you can!'' Lexi shouted enthusiastically.

It turned out to be a little harder than she expected, because no matter how many times Serafine hit it, it never seemed like it had taken any damage. The Geodude grabbed a small rock of the round and threw it. It seemed to have some power behind it but the angle was wrong and it landed in a shrub nearby. Now that the pokémon was distracted Lexi gave a nod to Serafine and shouted ''One more time Serafine, use your hooves!''

Serafine hit the Geodude right in the middle and threw it against a tree in the process. The Geodude had some trouble getting back up but didn't seem to be giving up yet. Lexi quickly took a pokéball out of her backpack. If this pokémon could take all that, it had to be very strong. She threw the pokéball and hit the Geodude right below his face. Now she had to wait for the red light to stop blinking.

It took a whole minute but eventually the button stayed white and Lexi picked up the pokéball.

''Serafine! We have caught our first pokémon! What should I name it? Wait, is it a male or a female?'' Lexi pointed the pokédex at the pokéball, but it didn't seem to be able to recognize it. ''Well, I will name it when it comes out of its pokéball again. Maybe…Ava or….Pero!''

Lexi quickly went back to Diptera Town to get her new pokémon healed and found out it was a male Geodude. The Geodude turned out to be a very proud pokémon, and challenged Lexi to a second fight. ''Sorry Pero, I don't really have the time for that right now, but I promise you we will have another fight. Okay?'' The Geodude looked at her with a stern look on his face. Lexi held out the pokéball and Pero reluctantly pushed the button with his finger causing him to change into red energy and be pulled to the center of the ball that closed with a small *click*

* * *

Lexi sat down at a park bench and looked at her Ponyta who was eating the grass while lying down. They had trained in the forest still the sun started to set. Lexi wanted to wait with using Pero till she felt a bit more confident, it seemed to be a pokémon with an attitude. After having a small dinner herself, Lexi had brought Serafine to a nice clean meadow were her pokémon could graze while she tried to make a plan. ''This is going to be our last day here. Tomorrow we will start traveling towards Crocuta Town to challenge the gymleader, hopefully I will have caught my third pokémon by then.''

''Crocuta Town you said? I'm going the same way, maybe we can travel together'' a young boy with black hair appeared next to her. On his shoulder stood a small Hoothoot.

Lexi was unsure. Her parents had told her it was very common for trainers to travel together and that it could be very helpful and fun. But Lexi still felt uncomfortable with the idea of traveling with someone she knew nothing about. After weighing the pros and cons Lexi made her decision.

She stood up from the bench and extended her hand, ''Sure, my name is Lexi Blue.''

The boy was a little bit smaller than her and had a tanned skin. His eyes were green, which matched the green glasses he had in the pocket of his red t-shirt. ''Nice to meet you, my name is Aiden Krean. I'm a pokémon trainer too. This here is my buddy Hoothoot, ''Aiden said while pointing to the pokémon on his shoulder,'' and I also have Pidgey''.

''Well this is Serafine, my Ponyta and I also have a Geodude named Pero that I caught today.''

''Serafine? Pero? You name your pokémon?'' Aiden said surprised, ''My parents had always just called them by them species.''

''Oh,'' Lexi said also slightly surprised, ''well that´s fine too. Naming isn´t that important.'' Lexi found it a bit strange to not name a pokémon, but she didn't want to tell him and maybe cause a fight. They said goodnight and they both went to their own rooms to sleep. They would meet at the park bench near Grey Forest and continue their journey together.


	3. A new responsibility

Lexi and Aiden were walking through the forest, both Serafine and Hoothoot were outside their pokéballs walking and flying next to their trainers, who were busy telling each other stories. ''And now I´m on my third day, so I am still somewhat of a newbie,'' said Lexi, petting Serafine, '' I´m not sure what I want to become. I mean, I like battling but I don´t think I want to become the best of all, like, the champion. I want to learn, train, and just try things.''

Hoothoot sat down on Aiden´s shoulder and closed his eyes. '' Well, that´s kind of normal, almost nobody has a real plan when they start their journey. The plan to just become the best in something is used most of the time and eventually they just end up doing something completely different. What is kind of logical, because not everyone can become the best, only one person can. Or maybe more than one, but like, only one in every profession or something, like you know….'' Aiden kept rambling like that for a while and Lexi looked around, wanting to find another pokémon. Aiden had ended his talk about ´´there can only be one best´´ and it was silent for a couple minutes.

Suddenly Aiden stopped walking and turned to Lexi, ''Maybe we can train a little, like with a battle. I want my Pidgey and Hoothoot to be in good shape before we challenge the Gym.''

''Sure'' Lexi thought for a moment and slowly took a pokéball of her belt. She wasn't really sure about it but if she wanted to use him in the gym she had to practice. 'Pero, come out!''.

The Geodude looked ready to fight, smashing his wrists together. Aiden seemed a little lost, seeing that both his pokémon were normal/flying and he had hoped Lexi would sent out her Ponyta. Eventually he sent out Hoothoot, who almost fell from his shoulder when Aiden woke him up. ''Hoothoot use Hypnosis now!'' Aiden shouted, and the Hoothoot did what was asked. His red eyes seemed to glow slightly and pinkish colored rings surrounded Pero, who was now flat on the ground, fast asleep. ''No! Pero wake up!'' Lexi shouted, but it didn´t help. ''Good job Hoothoot, now use Peck''.

''How can I train with Pero if he is asleep the whole fight'' Lexi murmured. Hypnosis was such an annoying move, it could make you lose if your pokémon wouldn't wake up in time. The only thing Lexi could do was wait till her pokémon would wake up by itself. The Hoothoot kept attacking and her Geodude was taking more and more damage.

Finally Pero opened his eyes, he seemed a little drowsy and used his big fists to rub his eyes.

''Pero, use Tackle!''

Pero pushed itself from the ground with his fists and hit Hoothoot on its head with his full body. The owl pokémon quickly flew up dodging a second attack.

''Tackle'' both trainers screamed. Hoothoot dived towards the Geodude, but Pero moved to the side, grabbed a big rock from the ground and tossed it to Hoothoot. The angle was right this time and the rock hit Hoothoot right in his face, causing him to fall and faint as he hit the ground.

''Pero, that was Rock Throw! Good job!'' Lexi ran to her pokémon and gave it a hug. It felt really cold but Lexi didn't care. This was great! Her first fight with Pero and he listened to her, well, mostly at least. Pero didn't pay much attention to Lexi and just tried to show is toughness by growling loudly at his defeated opponent.

''Good job'' Aiden admitted, putting his Hoothoot back in its pokéball. ''Even though I hadn't expected to win at all with the type disadvantage''.

Lexi and Aiden had a quick lunch so they, and their pokémon, could rest a little. Aiden pulled a book out of his backpack and started reading. ''What are you reading?'' Lexi asked curiously.

Aiden began saying the things he read out loud. ''Ponyta´s mane and tail grow out about an hour after birth, it´s a world-class jumper, hooves harder than diamonds. Geodude is proud of its sturdy body and will bash against others of its kind in a contest of sorts to prove whose body is harder, it has an incredibly high defensive power.''

Aiden closed the book and put it back in his backpack. ''I always try to find as much information as I can about pokémon I see'' Aiden said, putting his backpack on. Lexi pulled her pokédex out of her backpack and handed it to Aiden. ''Professor Redwood gave me a pokédex, it has all kinds of pokémon information in it. You can use it if you want.'' Aiden eagerly took the pokédex from her and pointed it towards his Hoothoot.

Instead of giving information, the pokédex screen went red and black letters appeared, saying Aiden wasn´t the original owner. Aiden handed Lexi her pokédex back and sighed.

Lexi gave an apologetic smile, ''Sorry, I didn´t know it only worked for me. But why don´t you just tell me when you want to use it, then I will point it and it will give information. ''

Aiden nodded and the two continued their trip. Lexi looked around, she hadn't really been paying attention to the forest. It was very different from that of Diptera. Grey Forest was very quiet, the only sound Lexi could hear was them walking through the almost silver looking grass. The trees were more of a really light blue kind of color. The weird colors apparently had something to do with a certain mold in the ground, which was discovered by some guy and his Alakazam. He had even been on TV and earned a special award for it.

''Look!'' Aiden said, pointing. Lexi didn´t see what he was pointing at and Aiden sat down on his knees. ''They´re pokémon tracks.''

Aiden took a book out of his backpack and started observing. Lexi however walked around a bit, trying to find the Pokémon who made the tracks.

''Ssssst'' Lexi suddenly said, squinting her eyes. Aiden was about to say something but froze in place. Lexi started walking towards a bush, squatted and pushed some branches away. ''I thought it was a wild pokémon'' Lexi mumbled, standing up. ''But it wasn't, look at this!''

In her hands Aiden saw a small blue, black and yellow colored egg.

''You found an egg! That's so cool, I wonder what pokémon is inside it!'' Aiden said, completely forgetting about the tracks, while immediately searching through his books hoping to find the answer in there. Lexi pulled a green towel out of her backpack and wrapped it around the egg. ''But what now? I don't know anything about egg care, I mean, I'm pretty sure I need to keep it warm but what then?''

''Maybe I can find something in my books, but we better continue walking. With a little luck we will be able to find a Pokémon Center.''

Lexi wasn't able to enjoy walking in the forest anymore, instead of smelling the fresh air or looking for new pokémon she was constantly looking around for a Pokémon Center. She felt responsible for the egg. It had been left alone under a bush and it felt cold to the touch.

While she rubbed the egg gently Lexi thought about everything that could go wrong. What if she dropped the egg, or if the pokémon in it would get hurt because it had not been warm enough, or something went wrong when it hatched.

Aiden was busy reading a green colored book, with the title 'How to do it Egg-cellent', hoping it would have some good information.

''Here it says eggs are usually kept in a special egg case.'' Aiden looked at the egg. He noticed Lexi's nervous face and smiled reassuring ''Don't worry, it also says it rarely goes wrong. If we just keep it warm and safe, everything will be fine. I'm sure.''

Slowly the day passed, it started to become darker and colder. Lexi had begun using Serafine as a heat source, and the Ponyta tried her best to keep the egg warm. ''We are close, I know it! Just a couple more minutes'' Aiden smiled. Lexi could already see lights in the distance and felt a little better.

Serafine was getting tired and her flames turned to their normal size. ''It's okay Serafine, you did great! Go inside your pokéball, I'll let you out when we get there.''

Finally the forest ended and they started seeing buildings. Almost all the buildings had a yellow-ish color with light grey roofs. The air was dry and the farther they walked into the town, the hotter it got. Keeping the egg warm wasn't a problem anymore, but maybe it would get cooked with this temperature.

Lexi recognized a small blue building. She breathed a sigh of relief when she entered. Inside the building it was a lot cooler than outside, thanks to a small Swinub sitting in the corner. Behind the cash register stood a man wearing a blue uniform. ''Hello, how can I help you?''

Lexi showed him the egg while asking, ''Is there a Pokémon Center nearby?''

''Sure, you just go straight till you see a big green sign, then turn left. You should be able to find it easily.''

Lexi walked past Aiden, who had started looking at the pokéballs, and practically ran to the Pokémon Center. Sweat ran down her forehead as Lexi stumbled into the Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy, who stood behind her desk, looked a little surprised.

''Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center. Are you okay?''

Lexi took a few deep breaths, then nodded. ''Yes, I'm fine. But I found an egg a little while ago, and I don't know how to take care of it!''

Nurse Joy smiled, took the egg and started examining it.

Aiden walked through the front doors of the Pokémon Center, with his Hoothoot hooting on his shoulder, and stood next to Lexi. ''It´s really late, would it be possible for us to stay here?''. Nurse Joy looked up, smiled and said, ''Ah, you're young trainers on your first journey, aren't you. Yes, there are still rooms free.''

She looked at the egg one final time then handed it back to Lexi. ''The egg is fine.''

Lexi nodded but hugged it tightly, afraid it might fall. ''Normally I would give you an egg case, but we don't have any left. Don't worry, it's not really necessary, it just makes it a little easier. Just keep it warm, that's all it really needs. ''

After getting a quick meal from Nurse Joy, the young trainers went to their room and got ready to go to bed. Lexi put a pillow on the ground, took the egg out of the towel and placed it in the middle. Now that she didn't had to worry about the egg anymore, Lexi felt extremely tired. After letting Serafine and Pero out of their pokéball, Lexi quickly brushed her teeth and walked past Aiden, who was still reading, to her bed. Normally Lexi did not sleep well in strange places, the smell was weird, the bed felt different, the temperature wasn't comfortable and Aiden was still making noises in the background. But she was so tired, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.


	4. A pokémon in need

When Lexi opened her eyes the next morning, she could almost see the heat hanging in the room. She took some objects out of her backpack and went to the bathroom to get ready. Aiden woke up a couple of minutes later, rubbing his eyes and yawning loudly. ''Hey mom, is breakfast done yet?'' he asked, laying back down. ''You're not at home Aiden, but I'm sure Nurse Joy will have made us something. '' Lexi joked while zipping up her backpack. This caused Aiden to fall out of his small bed, almost crushing his glasses that had fallen out of his pocket. Lexi quickly picked them up and gave them to Aiden, who went to the bathroom to clean up. Lexi walked to Serafine and Pero. The Geodude had buried himself deep in a flowerpot, the floor beneath it was covered in dirt and flower petals. Lexi made a mental note to keep Pero in his pokéball from now on if they slept inside. Serafine was lying next to the egg with her head near the pillow. ''Hey there, are you guarding the egg? That's so sweet.'' Lexi said, stroking Serafine's neck. Lexi put her pokémon back in their pokéball and cleaned up the mess from the flowerpot. Then she zipped up her backpack, picked up the egg and sat down waiting for Aiden to come back.

After having a quick breakfast, Lexi and Aiden went looking for the gym. They had decided to take a look at the gym first, instead of immediately challenging it. The sun was making the heat even worse and Lexi could feel the red brick road burning under her shoes. The people of Crocuta Town seemed immune to the rising temperature. They were casually walking around, stopping to look through shop windows and Lexi even saw a couple of kids running.

It wasn´t difficult to find the gym, Nurse Joy had said it was the highest building in town. But it was only recognizable as a gym because of the sign that was placed next to the doors. From the outside it looked more like a hotel. It had the same yellow color and grey roof as the rest of the houses, but had much more windows and decoration. Lexi wondered if the inside would look more stone-like.

Aiden seemed to think a bit and then slowly started to walk towards the gym. ''Aiden, what are you doing?' Lexi walked after him and tapped his shoulder with her free hand.

''I want to go in, I want to fight'' Aiden kept walking and Lexi followed confused. The door led to a grey hallway filled with bright lights. The walls were bare and the same black pillar stood every few feet, making Lexi feel like she stayed at the same place with every step she made. At the end of the hallway was an identical door to those out front.

Lexi felt uncomfortable criticizing her travel buddy, and didn't want to start a fight, but she felt like she had to say something. ''Are you sure you want to do it now? You only have Flying type pokémon and we have barely trained. Do you really think they stand a chance?''

''But I want that badge, and I can always try again if it goes wrong.''

Aiden put his hand on the doorknob but didn't open the door. Lexi looked at him nervously, unsure of what to do.

''Maybe…''Aiden let go of the doorknob and turned around, ''You're right, I shouldn't let my pokémon fight yet. They don't stand a chance against the Rock types right now and it would be unfair of me ask this from them.'' he said scratching the back of his head, and together they walked back to the Pokémon Center. Lexi was happy Aiden understood and didn't get frustrated at her for interfering.

''I know!'' Aiden stopped and took a pokéball from his green belt, ''Let's go train, then I can try the gym after practicing!'' Before Lexi could say anything Aiden had disappeared behind some red bushes that seemed far too colorful for this dry climate. It took a while before Lexi found him, he was busy fighting a young boy who's Ralts just dodged Hoothoot's Peck.

Lexi looked around seeing if she could find a battle partner as well. There was a girl with red hair bathing in the lake with her Goldeen who seemed like a good first opponent.

* * *

The sun had disappeared behind the trees, causing the temperature to drop. The lake water was still warm to the touch but a fresh gust of wind moved through the field on which two pokémon were busy in a heated battle. A Phanpy tried to grab the quick moving feet of its foe with its nose, to make it trip and fall. But the Ponyta was too fast and galloped around Phanpy, just outside of its reach.

Lexi had been battling the entire day, just as Aiden. Both had gotten a lot stronger and felt more confident than before. Serafine had even learned her first fire move. Just as they had finished their dinner, a girl had come up to them asking Lexi for a fight.

''Serafine, use Ember'' The fire missed Phanpy, and the long nose pokémon looked at his trainer for direction on what to do now. ''Phanpy use Takedown!''

Phanpy lowered its head and charged. Serafine moved away but Phanpy quickly changed direction and threw itself against the Ponyta, slamming into it.

The two pokémon layed still for a moment. Serafine stood up, breathing heavily, and had clearly taken some damage. Her fur was covered in grass stains. The Phanpy also stood up, but seemed dizzy.

''Serafine, do Ember''

Lexi had won every battle today but none of them had been so hard for Serafine as this one. Lexi was sure Serafine could win this, she just had to find out how.

Serafine shot a small fireball out of her mouth, but something seemed weird. The ball of fire was very small, but Serafine's mane and tail were bigger and brighter than before. Phanpy dodged the attack and prepared to tackle again when Lexi suddenly realized something.

''Serafine, do Flame wheel!'' Serafine's mane and tail grew even bigger, lighting up the surrounding area and giving the trees a spooky appearance. The air around Lexi became hot again and but didn't give such a dry heat as the sun had done during the day. The flames grew so big that Serafine was barely visible anymore. Serafine ran towards Phanpy, who seemed to be blinded by the light of the fire, and tackled it. The Phanpy let out a short yelp when the flames hit its body and stayed on the ground. ''Are we done?'' Lexi asked, filled with happiness because Serafine had learned another new move. But the fight wasn't over yet, with great trouble Phanpy got up again.

''Serafine, Tackle!''

''Phanpy, Tackle!''

Both pokémon charged and met in the middle with a loud *bang*. This time the Phanpy stayed down. Serafine walked back to her trainer and Lexi cuddled her. Phanpy had been a worthy opponent but Serafine was just too incredible.

Lexi gave the other trainer a hand and went back to Aiden, who had been watching the fight with the egg in a towel beside him. Lexi quickly took the egg back into her hands but was happy she had been able to trust Aiden with it.

''Good job. Now let's get Serafine checked out and then go to bed, I'm tired. I want to be fresh when I challenge the Gym tomorrow'' Lexi wanted to tell him that one day of training might not be enough, but to be honest she felt a lot more confident herself as well. And she had won every battle today, she was ready, wasn't she?

When Lexi woke up the next day she still felt tired. She had been very active yesterday and the warm air made her feel sleepy. She had remembered to keep Pero in his pokéball this time so she didn't step in any dirt when she walked to her backpack to get her hairbrush. Her Ponyta was still allowed out of her pokéball and was sleeping next to the pillow with the egg. Suddenly Lexi had an idea, took the pokédex out of her backpack and pointed it to the egg after lowering its volume.

''It doesn't seem close to hatching'' the robotic man-like voice seemed to whisper. Well, that didn't work. Lexi put the pokédex back in her backpack and went to the bathroom to get ready.

The weather was just as warm as always, with not a cloud to be seen or a puff of wind to be felt. Serafine was walking around Lexi and Aiden, who were standing in front of a shop that had many different pokéballs displayed in the window. The shop looked very dusty but the pokéballs seemed freshly polished and gleamed.

''I already have some pokéballs I bought at Diptera Town'' Aiden opened his backpack and Lexi could see 4 small pokéballs rolling around between a pair of socks and a yellow badge box. ''But they don't look as good as these.''

Lexi looked at the two pokéballs she had in her own bag. They had lost their gleam a long time ago, waiting for weeks maybe months to be given to a novice trainer. The same kind of pokéball she had used to capture Pero. Did she really want to capture her future pokémon in those as well?

Lexi made her decision and walked into the shop, Aiden following close behind. Serafine snorted and stayed outside but looked at the trainers through the glass door. Lexi took a deep breath and enjoyed the cooled air inside the shop. Lexi recognized the man with the blue uniform and gave a small smile. ''Excuse me,'' Lexi started, ''could you tell me how much a pokéball costs?

''200 pokédollars, but if you buy ten you will get a free Premierball'' the cashier took one from under his counter and showed the two trainers. The ball was pure white with a small red line around it, Lexi had never seen one before and wanted to have it. ''Ten pokéballs please!''

When they got out of the shop Aiden looked a little jealous. ''Was it really smart to buy so many pokéballs? I doubt you will need that many and now you have used up some money that was necessary for your journey.'' Lexi looked at her pokéballs and felt some regret now Aiden had said that. But she didn't feel comfortable going back and getting a refund after she had just bought them. So she shook her head at Aiden and said ''I have enough money left, and I could always work and get more money, right?''

Just as they both passed a small stream, they heard a weird sound. ''Did you hear that? It sounded like…Ku Ki, or something'' Aiden looked around and pointed to some sharp rocks that stood in the middle of the stream. ''It think it comes from there''. He walked closer to the water and squinted his eyes. The water made it difficult to make out what it was so Lexi took out her pokédex and pointed it to the rocks.

''Krabby, the River Crab pokémon. If it senses danger approaching, it cloaks itself with bubbles from its mouth so it will look bigger.''

''Okay, so it is a Krabby, but it doesn't sound very happy. I think something is wrong.''

Suddenly the Krabby jumped out of the water towards the trainers but got pulled back and plunged back into the stream. ''He's stuck, that is the problem. One of his pinches must be trapped between the rocks.''

''We need to help him!'' Aiden exclaimed, ''What can we do? Should we just go to him and try to pull him out or maybe we can use an attack on the rock to get it out?''

Lexi stared at the Krabby, thinking. ''An attack should be last resort, we could accidently hurt it.''

''I can try to get to him and pull him loose.'' Aiden was already up to his knees into the water and walked slowly to the Krabby.

''Hey there, I'm here to help you okay? So don't be scared.''

But the Krabby was not scared at all. It just seemed mad and tried to grab onto Aiden's fingers with his free pincher. After a couple of minutes Aiden gave up and went back to Lexi and Serafine.

''Well, that doesn't work, I think we need another plan'' Aiden said and he began wringing the water out of his clothes.

Lexi recalled Serafine, looked at the pokéball and got an idea. ''Aiden! My pokéballs, we can just catch him to get him out!''

''That could work!'' Aiden agreed and both trainers took some of Lexi's newly bought pokéballs and started throwing. This was a good practice of aim that was very necessary, because both trainers missed more than they hit and Hoothoot had to keep flying up and down the stream to return the pokéballs to them.

The Krabby was still being pushed around by the water and tried to attack them with bubbles, but those got taken away by the water as soon as they left his mouth. His call got more rapid and he started jumping around in the water making it even harder to aim.

Eventually Aiden managed to hit the Krabby on its free pincher as the Krabby had tried to knock the pokéball away. But the movement had been too much for Krabby's other pincher.

With an awful cracking sound the pincher tore off.

Lexi and Aiden watched surprised as the pokéball moved past the rocks with Krabby's sad looking right pincher hanging between them, and traveled farther down the stream with its button blinking fiercely, as if it was trying to guide something through the water. Aiden got over its surprise first and shouted while pointing ''Hoothoot, get that pokéball!'' Hoothoot flew down the stream and effortlessly grabbed the pokéball between his talons. When he reached Aiden the button had stopped blinking. ''Great job Hoothoot, now we need to get this pokémon to the Pokémon Center quick!''

Lexi had to pick up the egg first and when she turned around Aiden was already far ahead of her. ''Don't worry, we'll meet him at the Pokémon Center'' Lexi assured her egg and quickly followed him.

''I hope Nurse Joy can still help that poor Krabby.''


	5. Training

The Pokémon Center was very crowded and Lexi found Aiden sitting on a small couch next to three boys who were talking about a battle they had fought. Aiden gave a small smile when he saw her.

''Nurse Joy is busy with it, we just have to wait.''

Lexi went to get some food from the cafeteria so they could eat lunch while waiting. After almost an hour Lexi saw a Chansey wave at them. ''I think we need to go with it.''

The Chansey took them to a side of the Pokémon Center Lexi had never seen before. There were many doors. Those on the right were light in color and had plain walls beside them, making it impossible to know where they would lead to. But on the left were green doors and next to every door was a glass window, through which Lexi could see recovering pokémon.

Some were standing or sitting, clearly nearing the end of their stay, but others were lying down, some even attached to wires.

Finally Chansey stopped and Lexi could already see the Krabby through the window. It looked very fragile and unstable, like simply blowing in its direction would make it fall of the table. Krabby ignored the trainers as they came into the room and there was a short silence. Nurse Joy smiled at Lexi and Aiden and Chansey closed the door behind them.

''Well he is a little grumpy but you can't blame him, losing a pincher can be painful. But luckily Krabby's are able to grow them back so he should be fine.''

''Really?!'' Aiden exclaimed, his eyes wide. ''I didn't know that!''

''Well they can, but it can take a while. It will start small and grow bigger over time, until it is almost the same size of his other one. But he will have difficulty with his balance till then.'' Nurse Joy picked up a pokéball and handed it to Aiden. ''Oh yeah,'' Aiden took the pokéball, ''I forgot he's captured now. But it was your pokéball Lexi, you should have it.''

Lexi waved his hand away and smiled. ''You caught it, it's your pokémon.''

Aiden put the pokéball on his belt with a big grin on his face and started rummaging through his backpack. ''Then I want you to have this'' Aiden handed her one of his own pokéballs, ''No buts, I have one of your pokéballs so you get one of mine.''

Lexi nodded and both trainers thanked Nurse Joy.

* * *

''Maybe you should let your other pokémon meet Krabby, so they understand he's part of the team, and not like…food.''

Lexi and Aiden were walking at the edge of the village. It was still very warm so they stayed close to the trees that were casting small shadows on the dried up grass. ''That's not a bad idea. Maybe we can even train a little.'' Aiden let Hoothoot and Pidgey out, took the last pokéball from his belt and released Krabby. Krabby was still grumpy and inspected the grass instead of paying attention to Aiden. Both Hoothoot and Pidgey sat on Aiden's shoulders, staring at Krabby with curious eyes.

''It'll be alright guys, Krabby can help us win the badge. He's a water type'' Aiden explained to his pokémon. But he seemed unsure himself, Krabby didn't really act like a team player at the moment.

It surprised them all when Krabby shot up and tried to run into the forest. But he didn't get far. Without his other pincher he wasn't able to balance out his body and Krabby fell down. ''That will become a problem if I ever get him to battle with me. How can he win a battle if he can barely take a step forward. '' Aiden scratched his head.

''Can't we attach something to his body to balance him out?'' Lexi asked.

''Maybe. Could you hand me that stick?''.

But the stick was too light and Krabby fell over again. The next one they found was heavy enough but far too long. Hoothoot and Pidgey started to break off sticks from trees to see if they would fit. Krabby didn't object, he just ignored them and used his left pincher to cut the grass around him.

''You would almost say he looks bored'' Aiden remarked. He had a stick in his hand that reminded Lexi of a fork. There were still small leaves attached to the top of the dark brown wood, but they were turning yellow. The stick seemed to be the right weight, but it looked very weird. ''I tied it around him in such a way that his new pincher has room to grow'' Aiden said, pleased with himself. ''Now I want to try a battle, he has to learn to move with it.''

Lexi grabbed a pokéball with her left hand, as the she was still holding the egg with her right, and let out Serafine who reared up in a playful manner. ''I want you to be careful with him, okay. This is not a serious fight.'' Serafine looked a bit confused but nodded and turned to her opponent.

''Serafine do…uh..Tail Whip''

Serafine lowered her head and waved her fiery tail around. She looked like a young Growlithe, inviting Krabby to play. But Krabby didn't move, he just watched Serafine as she moved around.

''Okay Krabby do…..I don't know what moves it has.'' He said and shrugged.

Lexi pointed her pokédex and a familiar robotic voice answered the question.

''Krabby, the River Crab pokémon. If it senses danger approaching, it cloaks itself with bubbles from its mouth so it will look bigger. This pokémon known moves are: Bubble, Vice Grip, Harden, Bubblebeam and Mudshot. Male''

''Okay, Krabby do Bubble.'' Aiden shouted enthusiastically, but Krabby just continued to stare at Serafine and ignored Aiden completely. Aiden looked desperate and suddenly Serafine let out a loud snort, scaring them all.

The firehorse ran to Krabby and shot a small ball of fire right over his head. Krabby eyes went big and he waved his pincher while trying to regain balance. Serafine ignored him and turned around, ready to fire off a second attack.

''Krabby do Bubble quick!'' Aiden yelled, and Krabby looked around in slight panic. He had to defend himself, but would he listen? Krabby dug his feet deep into the ground and began to shoot bubbles out of his mouth. Serafine moved away from the bubbles and started to charge. Lexi's grip on the egg tightened as she watched her pokémon run around. Lexi felt like she should be the one giving the commands, instead of letting her pokémon do what it wanted. But Serafine had a plan, and she didn't want to ruin it.

''Now do Mudshot''

Krabby seemed to have forgotten his anger for Aiden completely and was focused on keeping Serafine as far away from him as possible. An orange colored sphere began to grow in Krabby's left pincher and Serafine started to run slower, ready to move away. Suddenly mud flew everywhere and not only Serafine, but also Aiden and Lexi got covered in mud.

It was silent for a moment. Everyone was trying to process what just happened. Then Krabby made the most loud and happy sounding 'Ki Ku' they had ever heard and both trainers smiled.

''Well, I think it's time for a dip'' Aiden yelled. He ran over the yellow grass to the lake and jumped into it with a small splash. Lexi first checked the egg, that had luckily been protected from the mud by its towel, and followed slowly. When she got at the lake she put down the egg and stared at the water.

''Come in, the water is warm. You can swim, can't you?'' Aiden teased.

The teasing only made Lexi feel very self-conscious. She gave a quick nod and carefully stepped into the water. The water was very warm and her clothing started to stick to her skin, making her feel restricted in her movements.

Pidgey and Hoothoot went in as well. Flying around their trainer and washing themselves in the water, even though they were the only ones not to get mud thrown upon them.

Lexi went back to the edge of the water to let her pokémon out too. ''They might not really enjoy the water, but they can have fun on the grass'' Lexi said to herself as she crawled back on land. Her body felt a lot heavier out of water and she was still bothered by her wet clothing. ''Serafine, Pero, you can come out''.

* * *

The sky was turning orange as the trainers walked back to the Pokémon Center. You could hear the wild Pidgey's who were flying back to their nests. People having quiet conversations while sitting outside the restaurants.

Aiden had spent the whole day swimming, helping Krabby with moving around in the water, as this was not easy with a stick to your side, and playing with his bird pokémon. Lexi on the other hand had stayed on the shore to let her clothes dry and take care of her egg. She had called her mom and felt a bit better. After a search for Pero, who had spent hís day buried in the dirt near some rocks, Lexi told Aiden she wanted to go back.

Now Lexi was in her pyjama's, ready to go to bed. She had a satisfied feeling after the delicious dinner and had just finished caring for Pero and Serafine.

''I think it's good we did not go to the gym today like we planned. My team has more of a chance now with Krabby. I can't wait for tomorrow, our first gym battle, that's going to be so awesome, and we are going to win I'm sure of it.'' Aiden said as he took of his pokeballbelt and carefully put it down.

Lexi gave a small smile but stayed quiet. ''And you got a pretty good chance too! Just need to make sure Serafine doesn't get too much damage from those rock moves.''

Lexi petted Serafine, who was on her usual place next to the egg and went to bed.

The sun had barely shone its rays upon the roof of the Pokémon Center when Lexi woke up. She looked around to see what woke her up, but didn't see anything. Could have been a wild Pidgey outside the window.

She tried to get back to sleep but her brain was awake and wouldn't let her enjoy her warm blankets anymore. So she collected her pokéballs, woke up Serafine, put the egg in its towel and went outside.

She walked around aimlessly, trying to get her mind to focus on what she had to prepare for. In a couple of hours she would be standing in the gym, on the field, fighting a Gymleader. She started to get nervous and let her fingers slide up and down the egg, just to give them something to do. The egg wasn't smooth at all, the entire surface was covered with small dimples, like pores, probably there to help the unborn pokémon inside it breath. Maybe it could even hear her though them.

''Can you hear me?'' Lexi whispered, but the egg didn't respond. Serafine pushed it with her nose and let out a soft nicker. ''It's okay,'' Lexi stroked Serafine and picked up the egg, ''we just have to wait, it will come out when it is ready.''

Lexi walked back to the Pokémon Center. The people of Crocuta Town had woken up and the streets were getting busy. There were young kids walking with their parents probably going to school, women and men with their pokémon going to work and an old man who was putting buckets of fruit outside his shop hoping they would lure people inside. Suddenly the street was filled with smells of bread and perfume. Sound of bells in shops and kids screaming and playing. Lexi saw Aiden, standing outside the Pokémon Center, looking relieved. ''I was getting worried, why didn't you tell me you were going for a walk.''

''Well, you were sleeping, I didn't want to wake you up'' Lexi felt a little bad about it, she didn't want to cause him stress. But Aiden didn't really seem stressed at all and simply shrugged.

''Okay, but like, next time leave a note or something.''

* * *

Lexi was surprised by how quick they reached the Gym. It felt too quickly, like she wasn't ready yet. Aiden walked without any hesitation, could that be because they had agreed she would go first?

The grey hallway felt more cramped than the first time she was here and the lights seemed brighter, causing her to blink non-stop.

''Well, now were going to know what's behind the door'' Aiden said cheerful and reached for the doorknob.

Lexi could see a bit of the room from behind Aiden as he opened the door. It was even more disappointing than the outside. It was a simple waiting room, filled with a row of white chairs and a desk near the door. Behind the desk sat an old woman with blonde hair.

''Hello, my name is Aiden Krean and this is my friend Lexi Blue. We would like to fight the Gymleader.''

The woman behind the desk didn't look up and just pointed to a door left from them. ''Go through that door, then go left till you see a big red door, that will lead to the Battle field. Your friend can keep walking till she sees a blue door, that will lead to the stands.''

Lexi took a deep breath and nodded to Aiden who gave an encouraging smile. This was it, her first fight, only seconds away.


	6. You lose some, you win some

**Sorry it took so long! I had some personal problems, some things were not saved properly so had to be redone and last of all, I realized I am very bad at writing battles. I hope you will still enjoy it.**

* * *

The first thing Lexi saw was a big, purple colored crystal. It looked sharp and Lexi's could see her own eyes staring back at her. She wondered if it was an actual crystal or just a fake one made of glass. The whole room was covered with them. Some big, others only the size of a Natu. She could hear her steps echo loudly between them and felt very self-conscious about the noise she was making.

Lexi continued on the tips of her toes. She thought about turning around and going back to the Pokécenter, but she knew it was just the stress messing with her. Everything would be fine, as soon as she would stand in front of the Gymleader she would be able to relax, knowing that she had made her decision and didn't have to try and avoid it any longer. She would fight, and she would win.

Lexi could now see the battlefield before her but didn't see a Gymleader anywhere. She did see Aiden left of her, far away on the dark purple stands. Did it help seeing him there, knowing she had a friend nearby? Or was he just going to be another pair of eyes, looking at her every move, judging.

She jumped a little when two bright spotlights appeared, one in front her and another at the other side of the field, showing her the Gymleader. It was a heavy middle aged man, wearing something that looked like a suit made of thousands of little crystals. His short hair was still black but his beard had already started to grey, and Lexi noticed he was missing a finger.

Lexi wasn't sure what to do and kept silent. The Gymleader looked at her, squinting his eyes for a second and then started talking with a deep raspy voice that echoed through the crystal covered field.

''Well, I guess I'll start the conversation then, my name is Jasper Keizel. What is yours?''

Lexi could feel her face getting red and took a step back, away from the spotlight.

''My name is Lexi, I'm from Filium Town''.

''Filium Town, that isn't that far away. This will probably be your first badge then.'' Jasper said and gestured her to come closer. The movement caused the small crystals to hit each other, creating a ringing sound. ''And how is Professor Redwood doing?''

Lexi was taken aback by this question and it took her a couple of seconds to come up with an answer.

''He is fine…I think. He seemed happy, gave me a pokédex and some other stuff''

Lexi wished she would have just walked away when she had the chance. She was making such a fool of herself. She hadn't expected him to ask her about Prof. Redwood or anything else that had to do with her and had no answer ready. Why didn't they just start battling?

Lexi saw the Gymleader looking to his right and noticed a referee had appeared next to field. A short man, wearing black shorts and a red shirt with a pokéball logo, bowed down and picked up two small flags.

The field lit up entirely, causing Lexi to quickly shield her eyes, and the referee started talking.

''The fight between the challenger Lexi Blue and and Gymleader Jasper Keizel is about to begin. Each side will have the use of 2 pokémon and the battle will be over when all of either sides pokémon are unable to continue. Only the challenger may substitute pokémon.''

And with that, the battle started.

Lexi send out Pero, who immediately smashed his wrists together even though he didn't have an opponent yet, and the Gymleader smiled as he released his Sudowoodo from a green pokéball.

''Rock Throw'' Lexi whispered, leaning forwards. Pero slammed his hands through the stone floor, creating many small stones around him, and started firing them at the Sudowoodo.

Sudowoodo dodged them just in time and the rocks flew past it, shattering a crystal and causing a horrible loud echo that made Lexi cover her ears.

By the time Lexi could focus on the battle again, Sudowoodo had already ran towards Pero and kicked him into a crystal. When Pero got up he didn't seem the slightest bit hurt or weakened, just angry.

''Low kick again!'' Jasper commanded to his pokémon, causing Pero to get slammed to the ground a second time. And though Pero still seemed very angry, Lexi could also see he had taken some damage this time.

''Rock throw now!'' Lexi yelled, certain it was going to work because Sudowoodo was too close to dodge. While lying on the ground, Pero pushed his hand deep into the floor and threw the rock towards the Sudowoodo with all his strength.

The rock hit its target hard, causing the Sudowoodo to stagger for a bit. But the effect it had was minimal. The Sudowoodo seemed unscathed, still standing upright and proud. Pero just looked angry and hurt. Lexi panicked as she looked at her pokémon, all kinds of thoughts racing through her mind. Why was this fight so difficult? Why did the attack not work? What was she supposed to do now?

Jasper ordered another Low Kick and by the tone in his voice she could hear it was the final one.

''Dodge it Pero, quickly!'' Lexi didn't know what else to say, she had no clue what to do anymore and she had lost all the confidence she had.

She saw Sodowoodo's leg collide with Pero and knew the fight was over, she had lost. Lexi clenched her fists and tried to process what just happened, but on the other side of the room she saw Jasper look at her expectantly. Lexi widened her eyes in shock. She still had Serafine, the battle wasn't over yet. But she didn't want to keep fighting, she didn't want Serafine to get hurt as well, but she didn't want to get laughed at for quitting.

Lexi returned Pero to his pokéball and reluctantly threw Serafine's pokéball onto the field. The Ponyta looked around curiously and only after first examining the floor beneath her hooves, did she turn to look at her opponent. She looked to playful and full of energy, like she had no clue what a mess Lexi had made before.

Lexi felt touched by the amount of trust Serafine seemed to have in her, but she felt horrible knowing that she would lose that in a couple of minutes.

''Serafine…uh..'' Lexi began, she tried to remember the moves of her pokémon but it was like her entire head was filled with cotton, like her brain couldn't process the smallest bit of information.

''Sudowoodo, Rock throw'' Jasper ordered, pointing his four fingered hand at Serafine.

''Serafine do…uh…do…Ember''

But the small ball of fire didn't seem to effect Sudowoodo in any way as he ran towards Serafine with a big rock between his branch-like arms. It let out a short cry as it flung the rock towards Serafine.

It seemed to hover in the air for ages, as Lexi followed it with her eyes. But when it eventually hit something, it was not Serafine but simply the ground.

The attack had missed. The rock had been too slow and Serafine was able to dodge it.

Lexi had gotten some of her confidence back and smiled at her pokémon. She still had a chance to win, just because Pero couldn't do it didn't mean Serafine would be unable to do it as well, she just had to make sure she would not get hit.

Lexi straightened her back and ordered Serafine to use every long distance attack she had, while also dodging everything that got thrown at her.

And this technic worked for quite a while. Serafine graciously jumped around the room while fire shot around left and right.

But then it happened. Serafine tripped over a small crystal and before she could get back up, a big rock hit her side and she tumbled over. Serafine got up, breathing heavily. Her body was filled with scratches from the crystals and her shiny coat covered with dust.

She looked at the Sudowoodo and let out a soft snort. Serafine opened her mouth, an orange glow forming between her teeth, and leaned backwards, putting all her weight on her hind legs to balance herself.

She was almost ready to shoot when another rock flew through the air, hitting her right on her chest, disrupting her attack and making her fall to the ground once more. But this time her eyes stayed closed and a voice echoed through the room.

''The Ponyta is unable to battle, Jasper wins''

Lexi could feel tears forming in her eyes and quickly wiped them away with her sleeve.

''Don't be too hard on yourself,'' Jasper said gesturing to Serafine. ''You tried really hard, just made some novice mistakes.''

''I don't get it'' Lexi murmured, ''I won every other battle I fought, what's so different about this one?''

''Well,'' Jasper started, ''First of all I'm not just another beginning trainer, I am a Gymleader. I have trained and battled for years, I'm not supposed to be easy to beat, if I would be, the victory wouldn't mean much now would it.''

Jasper gave her a small smile before he continued. ''Your pokémon are strong, you have trained their strength well, but battling is more than strength alone, more than just attack and dodge. You can combine your moves or use those of your opponent against them. Use your environment to defend yourself or get the upper hand. Instead of staying away from the crystals you could have used them as a defense or even an attack, you could have used your moves to trap my Sudowoodo, or make it harder for him to move around.

Jasper's voice got more flat as he proceeded ''I think you have only trained by battling other people, seeing the win or loss as a sign of growth or lack of it. But training is more than that. You have to train the entire pokémon, not just its power. You have to know its weaknesses and strengths in battle, improve your relationship with them, have a plan.''

It was silent for a couple of seconds as Lexi tried to take in all the information she had just been given. In some way she knew what he said was probably true, but she wasn't ready for it now. At the moment she was angry and disappointed with herself, and needed time alone.

''Now, I believe I had a second challenger. Why don't you come down, boy'' Jasper waved towards the stands and Aiden hurried down. Lexi turned around and walked back to the red door.

Aiden tried to say some comforting words as they passed each other but Lexi took the egg from him without a word and kept walking till she reached the Pokécenter. There she gave her pokéballs to Nurse Joy and sat down on the yellow bench to wait.

She mindlessly brushed with her hand over the egg as she thought about what happened. Maybe she should have waited and watched Aiden's battle. Would he get mad at her for not staying?

Lexi frowned and put the egg next to her. Pero would surely be angry at her, maybe Serafine as well. Did her parents feel this way as well if they lost a fight, or were they always a good sport, learning from their mistakes and moving on? Lexi wished she could do that, but it wasn't that easy to shake off the feeling of disappointment and regret.

Lexi looked up when she heard Nurse Joy call her name. ''Here you go, your pokémon are fine now. They might still be a bit tired, but that will go away after a night's rest. We hope to see you again!''

Lexi put the pokéballs back on her belt and walked to the door. Outside the temperature had started to rise even more and Lexi coughed as the dry air irritated her throat. She sat down on a metal bench which felt like it was on fire, and looked at the people and pokémon passing by. Some were carrying wooden planks or chairs, others boxes full of all kinds of colorful objects. Only rarely did she see a person with nothing in their hands.

Suddenly she saw a someone walking towards her. It was Aiden.

He helped someone who had accidently dropped a bucket with spray cans in it, then carefully sat down on the bench. They sat there in silence for a while till Lexi got too uncomfortable with the quietness.

''So…did you win or lose?'' Lexi asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Aiden looked at her for a moment before he replied. ''Yes, I did.'' Lexi could now see the small blue and grey badge pinned on his jacket. It consisted of 3 small blue circles put together, with in every circle a small greyish pebble.

She could feel her jealousy growing so she quickly looked back to the ground.

''But I do have to say that I probably wouldn't have won if it wasn't for you. Because I used the advice Jasper gave to you, I was able to beat him. So…thanks.''

Lexi wanted to smile to him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it, she was still bothered by what had happened, and now she was jealous as well.

''Maybe you should talk about it you know, it could help.'' Aiden looked at her expectantly. Lexi thought for a moment. It felt like a huge risk to tell him anything and she would rather just talk about it with her mom, but he was her travel buddy, she should start trusting him a bit if she wanted them to become good friends.

''Well, I just feel disappointed,'' Lexi eventually admitted, ''I feel like I've let everyone down, like I'm not good enough. And I angry at myself for it.''

''I think it is logical you feel disappointed, everyone feels like that when they lose, it is normal. You had certain expectations and they weren't met. So just feel it, accept it and then let it go. And don't put so much pressure on yourself. No one expects you, a novice trainer, to just win every battle you enter. I mean you had a type disadvantage and everything.'' Aiden said with a serious look on his face, that disappeared as he added, ''Or something like that, my dad always says these things.

Lexi thought about what Aiden had said and focused on her disappointment. It was normal to feel it, she had every right to, accept it and let it go. The pressure she had felt seemed to lessen a bit and Lexi let out a long sigh.

''Thanks Aiden, that helped.'' Aiden stood up from the bench and offered his hand to Lexi.

''I saw people set up some stalls, maybe we can look around a bit.'' Lexi nodded and together they walk towards the stalls. Lexi was probably still going to call her mom later, but for now, she felt better.

(_)

''Berries! Get your berries here! Great, tasty, juicy berries. Blue, green, red, every color you can imagine. Delicious and affordable!''

''Decorate your pokémon with the most beautiful ribbons and hats. Every pokémon deserves to shine! The very best of Crocuta's wares''

''Have your children broken everything you own? Is there no plate left in the house? Get these special Pinsir plates, super strong, almost indestructible!''

The market was incredibly busy. The sun had reached its highest point, making it almost impossible to find shade but nobody seemed to mind as they followed in the line of slowly moving people.

Lexi could barely hear herself think. There were dozens of stalls and everyone tried their best to sell their goods. There was a stall with powders and bottles completely draped in orange curtains with an old woman behind it, who was bickering with the man next to her because his pokédolls had fallen and broken one of her most expensive products.

On the opposite of that was a woman selling homemade pokémon food, which had such a strong smell that Lexi started to feel a little nauseous. But Aiden, who walked next to her, was very interested in everything and tried to make conversation with everyone he made eye contact with.

''Hey look!'' Aiden pointed, pulling her towards a stall. The lady behind it smiled widely, trying to seem friendly no doubt, but it just reminded Lexi of the Gengar doll her old friend Nat used to bring with him if he would sleepover. Lexi looked at the objects on the small table before her as the woman started talking.

''These are very special figurines, made from special wood from Vulpes Forrest. They use Nidoran to cut the wood which gives it this beautiful raw appearance. But don't worry, they are all sanded.''

Lexi picked up some of the figures to look at them a little better. They all looked very pretty, a bit coarse but still detailed enough to easily recognized the pokémon it was representing. There was a Beautifly sitting on what was probably meant to be a log, a small Machop holding something above his head, a Pichu with his arms stretched out like he wanted a hug, but the one that Lexi was the most drawn to was a figurine that stood at the back, almost obscured by the other ones.

It was a Zigzagoon. The figure was standing on all fours, looking up with its mouth slightly ajar. She picked it up and ran her fingers over it. Its bristly looking wooden fur actually felt really smooth.

''What do you have there?'' Aiden asked. Lexi showed him the Zigzagoon and Aiden inspected it for a moment. ''Do you like it?''

''Yeah, I think so.'' Lexi looked at the small wooden figure in her hands and when she looked up she saw Aiden hand over some money to the woman behind the stall.

''You don't have to do that, I can pay for it myself'' Lexi reassured, but Aiden put up his hand and shook his head. ''No, this is a present.'' Aiden waved goodbye to the woman and continued down the path, ''A little gift to cheer you up. Now, let's go and have a fun, and tomorrow we will just go to the next town and start over.''


End file.
